Türkiye entirely rejects 'unfounded' allegations, 'unfair' criticisms in EU report

By Zehra Nur Duz

Türkiye entirely rejects “unfounded” allegations and “unfair” criticisms in the latest EU report on the candidate country, especially in the sections on political criteria and the judiciary and fundamental rights, the Turkish Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday.

“Although the 2023 Türkiye Report is the 25th report prepared by the Commission for our country, the fact that the EU maintains its unfair and biased approach towards our country is a cause for concern for the future of our continent, which is currently facing numerous challenges,” said a ministry statement.

As existing high-level dialogue and cooperation mechanisms with candidate country Türkiye on foreign policy, regional developments, security, defense and sectoral issues are blocked, it is inconsistent to claim that Türkiye’s compliance with EU policies in these critical areas has decreased, the ministry said.

“We consider the assessment in the text, which criticizes our country's stance on the Hamas-Israel conflict as entirely incompatible with the EU, as a form of praise,” it said.

“In the face of a civilian massacre that has re-emerged from the Middle Ages in the 21st century, we feel the need to remind the EU, which is in the wrong place in history, that policies based on universal values, international law, and humanitarian principles should be applicable not only to Ukraine or another region of Europe but also to the entire world, including the Middle East,” the statement added.

The European Commission on Wednesday released its annual report on EU candidate country Türkiye as part of its 2023 Enlargement Package.

Oliver Varhelyi, the neighborhood and enlargement commissioner, announced the package, which includes the EU Commission’s latest evaluations on Türkiye and six other candidate countries for membership in the bloc.

The report repeated criticisms of Türkiye from previous years’ reports on issues such as democracy, fundamental rights, and the judiciary, criticisms that Turkish officials reject.